In order to decrease the cost and increase the efficiency of packaging materials, it would be useful to have containers of uniform outer dimensions which allow for packaging of different predetermined volumes of material. For example, a typical pharmaceutical manufacturer may package different quantities of a product for shipment to retail pharmacies in correspondingly sized different containers. The manufacturer may decide to ship a product in two or three different quantities (e.g., 50 or 200 tablets) in two or three different sized containers. The tablets to be shipped may contain different dosages of medication (e.g., 30 mg, 100 mg, etc.). The pills may be sized or shaped differently. Each of these factors, and other factors too numerous to mention, may affect the volume of material to be packaged in an individual bottle. A manufacturer may, therefore, need a series of bottles having different interior volumes to accommodate the disparate volumes of material to be packaged. Each series of bottles may have different exterior dimensions and configurations, thereby requiring different equipment lines for packaging and labelling the bottles.
It would be advantageous for a manufacturer to have available containers of uniform outer dimension and configuration in order to standardize systems for filling, closing, and labelling each bottle and rendering tamper-proof the bottle closures. The size of dispensing and shipping cartons and the packaging system therefor may also be standardized.
In addition, it would be advantageous for a manufacturer to have available a container at least partially formed from recycled materials in order to lessen container cost and to help preserve the environment. However, in areas where contamination of the packaged material is of concern, it is desirable that the recycled portion of the container not contact the packaged material. Contamination of the packaged material is particularly undesirable in the pharmaceutical industry, where product purity is imperative. The present invention fulfills a long-felt need in the art by overcoming the aforementioned disadvantages of the prior art containers and providing other advantages as set forth below.